Cells At Work, Anime tv series (2018)

I seriously hate being sick. My vacation this year started off with a very annoying flu bug which resulted in me wasting a lot of precious time feeling miserable in bed and trying to get rid of it. Well, not just me, I guess the real job is being done by that little army that’s inside me that tries to fight off those pesky germs. I have to admit though that it has been doing a bit of a lousy job this year, as I have been sick quite a lot. But then again I have always been pretty susceptible to flu. If someone so much as sneezes near me, I might already catch it. The thing is though, that it seems the older we get, the more terrible we can feel from something as simple as a flu. Or maybe that is just me, I don’t know. You are probably wondering where I am going with all of this, if you haven’t already zoned out in the first place. (Which I won’t hold against you I promise). Well, the thing is, in case you don’t know this already, but anime has a knack for coming up with some pretty unique stories at times. Usually these translate into high concept science fiction or fantasy series, but this season’s Cells At Work takes a completely different approach.

I bet you never knew that this is what your body looks from the inside huh?

I usually go into a lengthy segment where I begin describing the plot of whatever it is I am about to review at this point, but in this case I won’t be doing that. Or I think a better phrase is: I can’t do that. Simply because I can sum up the plot of this anime series in pretty much one sentence. Cells at work takes a look inside the human body, at the cells that erm work there, whilst they are trying to fight off all kinds of things that get’s thrown at them. Yep, there really is nothing more to it than that. The first time I heard of this I think I had the same reaction that you might have right now in case you are not familiar with this anime: this sounds soooo boring. Well, that’s where you are wrong. Cells at work is a unique animeseries, that is guaranteed to make you smile. Having just finished the final episode for it this morning I immediately went to work on writing my review for this. While it’s not a series without flaws, it’s certainly one that has so many good things going for it, that only a very cynical or heartless person can’t find enjoyment in this.

Red Bloodcell delivering the goods!

Let’s start with the world building this series does first. As mentioned it takes a look inside the human body, but not in the way you would think. Veins, organs, and all the other stuff that makes you tick are represented as a living, breathing cityscape. And it all looks so incredibly clever. Many times I found myself wondering at the ingenuity of all the ideas that were put into this little gem. It became even more fun when certain diseases or injuries occured. Yeah I know how that sounds, but bare with me. There was an episode for instance where the body found itself suffering from a heatstroke. The landscape changed to a scorching desert, with the sweat glands looking like water reservoirs that were drained. Things like these and many more like them, are just some of the many events that made me smile every time when I watched an episode. The series doesn’t shy away from going into dark places either, showing not only small diseases and minor injuries, but at one point it even adressed cancer. I really had not expected the series to go there, but it did, and it was done in a very tasteful way as well. It truly showed the horrible effects of that terrible disease without getting too dark.

Yep, White Bloodcell does like to get messy sometimes!

But world building aside, it’s the characters that are the real shining stars in this anime. The main focus lies on a white and red blood cell, two characters that couldn’t be more different from each other. Red Blood Cell is a young girl that at the beginning of the series is always getting lost in trying to deliver oxygen to different places. She is insecure, but at the same time still courageous as well and just someone who you can’t help but fall in love with right from the start. It’s nice to see her grow during the course of the series, and especially in the final two episodes she really steps up to the blood, erm plate. White Blood Cell however, is the completely opposite. Represented as a young male, he is the courageous hero that fights off all the germs and other horrible things that attack the body. And he often gets very bloody while doing that. But, at the same time he really has a heart and a soft spot for Red Blood Cell, which he always ends up having to rescue. There are many other characters who we meet during the course of the series, but it would go too far to mention them all.

You do know that I had to at least add one picture of a platelet right?

However, it would be a horrible omission on my part if I were not to at least adress the platelets. If there is ever going to be an awards ceremony for cutest characters in a anime series, they would win it no question about it. They were absolutely loveable (and did I mention they were cute?) and maybe the best thing the series had to offer. You really wanted pretty much every episode to have at least one moment that we could spent with them. Well, now that we had all the positives there is something that this show does that if this had been any other series, might have let you drop the show before it ended. And that’s become repetitive. Basically nearly every episode dealt with the cells fighting off a new threat to the body. It’s the strength of this anime, that it didn’t become boring, but it was one of the things that I wished could have been handled in a different way. However, it has to be said, I just can’t find myself writing negatively about this series. It really was an incredibly fun anime, with a unique premise executed in a wonderful way. The next time I’m sick or injured I hope the cells will do their work again. So I guess the message is: treat your body well, and live healthy. Your cells will thank you for it!

It really was such a unique concept this one, and really executed perfectly. Thoroughly enjoyed it😊
Oh wow! That is so awesome to hear: It’s really nice when someone watches something because of a recommendation I gave and ends up liking it too😊 It really was fun ride all the way, and just a great switch your mind off and let go action flick! Thanks for your comment, this made my day 😊😊

The last episode did not disappoint. This series was just fun to watch and I love the characters, though now feel really bad for what I must be putting the cells in my body through some days. Glad you enjoyed and it has been treating watching this one and discussing with so many other bloggers this season.

No, it certainly did not disappoint at all. At one moment I really felt it was going to end in (well for fear of spoilers I won’t say it), but well I had honestly some fears for our friends let’s leave it at that 😊
Haha, so true, this series really had me thinking at times what must be going trough my cells at times, especially when I eat some junkfood lol😂
It really was, which is pretty much the sole reason I finally gave in to watching seasonal anime: the great discussions with all the other bloggers about the cool (and less cool) anime shows 😊

Could not agree with you more. Already looking forward to the next season, and which shows I will end up watching (although you can of course be sure that Sword Art Online is definitely amongst them😊😊).

I really had so much fun with this. It’s not the kind of show that I would have chosen had not Cactus Matt pointed this one out to me. But it really was amazing, and had so many great and wonderful little moments in it. Yes it was repetitive at times, but the show was so much fun overall that I could not blame it for that at all 😊

This reminds me of ‘Insode out’ with no relation to it though. This ones definitely going into my list. I think gems like this really help us appreciate the extent of human imagination. Really nice post and thank you for another addition to my list!

That is so true, this anime really once again proves that it’s a truly fun medium, with so many great and original ideas. I really think that you will have a lot of fun with this anime, and hey, it’s even educational too 😊😊
Thank you for another great comment! 😊😊

Awesome review, Michel. Now I officially know what all those gifs of this anime back when you had those I’m-sick-I’m-sorry posts were all about hahah I do love the idea of making this kind of analogy, especially when it all sounds so compelling. Especially them characters! 😛

Haha, yeah those gifs at the time seemed to be the most appropriate for that post 😂😂
(lol…nice name though “I’m sick-I’m sorry post😂😂).
It really was an amazing and unique series to watch, and one that I really enjoyed. Both the characters and the worldbuilding were amazing 😊😊 Thank you!! 😊😊

Thank you!
It’s hard to say really. I certainly think it will fall somewhere in between. This won’t be an anime that everyone will enjoy, but it’s still a real fun one with some great characters and seriously one of the most unique stories that I have ever seen 😊
Absolutely agree. I saw a video of a real doctor that had watched this anime yesterday over on the Otaku judge’s blog, and he said that this series really got so many things right. Which I think is a great compliment!. It would be really fun if that were to be the case. Imagine watching anime in class: best thing ever! 😀😀

This is definitely a timely anime to watch considering all you’ve been through. I just love it when shows take real world concepts like this and dramatize them. This series sounds really cute, and I will be adding it to my list 🙂

Haha, yeah, I was actually watching this show at the time that I got sick lol 😂 The fun thing is that the series is really accurate too. I saw a video this weekend where a real doctor had watched it and marvelled at how incredibly well thought out this series was.
That said: despite the educational value, it’s also a really fun and cute show, which I hope you will enjoy when you get around to seeing it😊

This definitely was a great anime, and a really cute and not to mention educational series as well. Really had a lot of fun with this series. There is just something about it, that you can’t help but smile at 😊

As someone who has studied Biomedical science at university, I’m incredibly interested in this show 🙂 If there wasn’t a giant pile of review back log over on my blog, I’d be all over this show 😀
Good to hear its a really fun show. Subjects like immunology, pathophysiology and Pathology, can be kind of boring, scary or repetitive, it’s nice to hear this anime made them enjoyable and fun to learn about 😀
As always great review 🙂 The cute platelets made me smile 🙂

Well, the fun thing is, I saw a video of a real life doctor who had watched this anime over on The Otaku Judge’s blog and he said it was really amazing how accurate this series was 😊Lol, I have had three weeks vacation that are almost up, and I still feel I hardly made a dent in my backlog, so I can relate 😊
Thank you for another wonderful comment, haha, and if you think that picture of the platelets was cute, wait till you see them for real (well in the anime that is lol 😂😂).

"Consider, can the universe be justifiably called infinite? Doubtful. It may not have a discernible end, but it had a beginning and its component parts definitely have a limited cosmological shelf-life. Splitting hairs or not, if history tells us anything, it's that scientists often make very poor poets. We're all just a ship of fools chasing phantoms, heedless of what really underwrites natural law." - Okabe Rintaro